Her attorney Robert Offer said in a statement: "This decision was made for the health of the family. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time."

Jolie wants physical custody of their children - Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 8, and for Pitt to have legal visitation.

"I am very saddened by this but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids," Pitt told People magazine. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time."

Meanwhile, the Academy Award-winning actress had previously revealed that the couple does have problems, but sort them out in the healthiest possible way. In an issue of Vogue, Jolie talked about their movie, By The Sea, in which they play a married couple who are going through a tough time. The film has been written and directed by the Maleficent actress and is the first time she and the Moneyball star have co-starred in a film since the famous 2005 action drama, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

"It's not autobiographical," she said of the film at that time. "Brad and I have our issues, but if the characters were even remotely close to our problems we couldn't have made the film."

"This is the only film I've done that is completely based on my own crazy mind...As artists we wanted something that took us out of our comfort zones," Jolie added. "Just being raw actors. It's not the safest idea. But life is short."